This document summarizes a presentation on researching the role of culture in development in Niger. It discusses two cultural projects in Niger funded by the EU: 1) a youth cultural development program and 2) promoting earth architecture. It proposes a multimedia methodology using storytelling to understand how these projects impact development. Challenges include differentiating research from advocacy and ensuring political correctness and confidentiality. The goal is to produce multidimensional data and make research accessible to diverse audiences.

1. Learning from the practice of
culture, development and peace
in Niger
Damien Helly & Greta Galeazzi
(Presentation by Greta Galeazzi)
23 October 2015
No sands castles - Earth
architecture and peace
caravans.

2. 1. Where do we come from and why this paper?
2. The rationale of a multimedia approach to
researching culture & development
3. Towards a methodology / protocol for
multimedia research & storytelling
Structure of the presentation
Page 2ECDPM

3. • What is the European Centre for Development
Policy Management (ECDPM): a think-tank in
The Netherlands, doing policy research but also
working with local actors in Africa and
elsewhere.
• Our track record on culture & development and
culture in EU external relations: Preparatory
Action, leading on most of the European
Neighbourhood.
• Policy discussions in the EU.
1.1 Where do we come from?
Page 3ECDPM

4. • What is the value / role of culture in the
promotion of sustainable development and
peace?
• Is it possible (and useful) to apply a multimedia
research approach to produce knowledge on
culture and development? What are the
challenges and the limitations of such approach?
• Focus on the practical cases of two cultural
projects being funded by the EU in Niger.
1.2. Why this paper?
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5. Page 5ECDPM
1.3 The projects by CISP

6. 1.4 Conceptualising the “culture-
development nexus” (I)
Page 6ECDPM

7. 1.5 Conceptualising the “culture-
development nexus” (II)
Page 7ECDPM
Sources Dimension 1 Dimension 2 Dimension 3
Holden (2013),
Dessin et al (2015)
[COST Report]
Intrinsic / Aesthetic
/ Artistic &
technical excellence
Instrumental /
Value for money
Institutional /
Behaviour change
potential
(anthropological)
Dessin et al (2015)
[COST Report]
Culture in
development
(including cultural
and creative
industries)
Culture for
development
Culture as
development
Authors’
understanding of
the three
dimensions of the
culture-
development nexus
Cultural sector
producing culture
for the sake of it
Culture as an
autonomous but
linked sector
Role of culture in
influencing /
impacting other
sectors (mediation
role)
Culture as
(potential) driver of
change of
sustainable
development,
peacebuilding,
counter
radicalisation, etc
(changing
behaviors).

8. • Issues in the evaluation of the role of culture
in/for/as development.
• Methodological advances but cultural values
remain subjective and personal experiences
given social meaning by individuals.
• Recurrent challenges for analysing the role and
impact of EU-funded (but also other donors’)
cultural projects having development or peace
goals.
2.1 The rationale of a multimedia
approach to researching culture &
development
Page 8ECDPM

9. 2.2 Storytelling in research (and
in communications)
Page 9ECDPM
Storytelling a research
tool
Sociologic /
Anthropologic /
Ethnographic
Research /
Organisational
science
used in
leads to
Participatory
research
Participatory action
(co-creation of
solutions)
Narrative
analysis &
research
Sense making
useful
for
What is storytelling in the
academic research world?
● A research tool already in
use in some research
domains;
● often with long timeframes
(participatory approach);
● and with a own set of ethical
problems.
A communication tool appealing
to emotions, experiences, etc.

10. • The innovation: a multimedia approach
• Potential added value / benefits of a multimedia
approach (including storytelling) to culture
in/for/as development
- Co-creation and co-performance, trust-building,
participation, exchanges
- Context-specific and multi-dimensional data
- Data storage and re-use
- Audience and communication (synthesis, accessibility,
impact).
Disclaimer: storytelling not suitable for
generalisations.
2.3 The rationale of a multimedia
approach to researching culture &
development
Page 10ECDPM

11. • Multiplicity of stories (“real stories”, no embellishment) vs one
story / storyboarding (“crafting” the story)
• Anthropological / ethnographic approach
• Questions of political correctness (in developing countries: the
impact of donor-recipient mentality; Bayart’s “strategies of
extraversion”)
• Questions of confidentiality
• Questionnaires vs open ended questions vs “focus groups”
• Current criticism of some research on the value of culture:
differentiate between research, evaluation, advocacy?
2.4 Challenges and limitations
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12. 1. Identification and setting the boundaries / limits
1. Scoping the debate around the projects managed and
implemented by CISP and its partners, to identify the political
and policy context.
2. Screening of available audiovisual data. CISP already
produced videos interviews during the time of the workshops
and performances of the “caravanes de la paix” and of the
“Architecture en terre” project.
3. Interviews with key stakeholders and resource people
4. Identification of key partners including audiovisual
companies and operators.
3.1 Towards a methodology /
protocol for multimedia research
& storytelling (I)
Page 12ECDPM

13. 2. Agreeing on the principles of engagement with CISP and its partners and
communities
2.Narrowing down the locations (geography)
3. Co-development of indicators to understand the processes - social, financial
political, emotional, psychological - through which culture has an impact (or not)
on development. We would test whether the impacts or effects of the projects can
be reconducted to the three conceptualisation of culture for/in/as development.
4.Decide on questionnaires vs semi-structured interviews (pros / cons)
5.Tailoring approaches to typologies of informers / stakeholders / interviewees /
focus groups
6.Build-up an audiovisual synopsis based on initial consultations and options for
storytelling, to be refined after the field research.
3. Carry out field research.
2.Identify indicators in audio-visual material gathered.
3.Refine the storyboard, synthesise findings.
4. Process materials and dissemination.
3.2 Towards a methodology /
protocol for multimedia research
& storytelling (II)
Page 13ECDPM

14. 3.3 Towards a methodology /
protocol for multimedia research
& storytelling
Page 14ECDPM
Culture in
development
Culture for
development
Culture as
development
Indicators for
interviews with
audience and
participants
Various based on
groupings
identified by
Carnwath &
Brown (2014) in
particular on
engagement and
on aesthetics
Various based on
groupings
identified by
Carnwath &
Brown (2014) in
particular on
intellectual
stimulation
Various based on
groupings identified
by Carnwath &
Brown (2014) in
particular on
empathy and social
connectedness
Indicators for
interviews with
experts and
resources people
Indicators for
audiovisual
evidence
Economic /
Revenue
Environmental /
Ecology
Social
Direct impacts
Indirect impacts

15. 3.4 Some first remarks
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• Start of a (“co-creation”?) dynamic with CISP.
• Practical application of the methodology to be
done in the future, focusing on the key
questions we aim to answer:
• lessons learnt from earth architecture as a type of
cultural action aimed at poverty reduction and
sustainable decent housing in this region;
• the value and limits of cultural action in Niger as part
of the EU’s contribution to development and peace;
• the ways to engage the youth in this region, in a
context of poverty, exclusion, religious tensions and
risks of radicalisation, and migration.

16. Thank you
www.ecdpm.org
www.slideshare.net/ecdpm
Questions and comments to:
Greta Galeazzi
gg@ecdpm.org
Page 16

17. Culture & development in the EU and culture in EU
external relations
• Track record of the EU in culture & development:
Preparatory Action and other studies map the
EU’s engagement in culture and external action.
• Recent evolutions: a strategy in the making in
the EU’s kitchens.
• School of thoughts in the EU institutions about
culture & development.
Main concepts of culture &
development (including in the EU)
(II)
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18. • Least Developed Country (LDC); ranking 187 on
187 in the Human Development Index.
• “Precarious balance”: protests in Zinder and in
Niamey (capital city) after the participation of
President Issoufou in the “Je suis Charlie” march
in Paris in January 2015.
• Domestic politics: the flight of the former
president of the National Assembly to France in
August 2014
• Consequences of Boko Haram in the south
(Diffa)
• Regional context: Mali, Libya, migration, the
Tuareg rebellion, Islamic / jihadi groups in the
North
The context of Niger
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19. The projects by CISP
Page 19ECDPM
Programme d’épanouissement culturel de
la jeunesse
Une industrie culturelle en développement
: l’architecture en terre
January 2014 – ongoing till December 2015 August 2012 – August 2014
Funded by the European Union’s Instrument for
Stability
Funded by the European Union’s 10th European
Development Fund (EDF) and by the ACP
Secretariat (Programme ACP-UE d’appui aux
secteurs culturels ACP)
The project aims to:
1) improve the cultural programmes in the
Maisons de la Culture, and the participation of
youth in the programmes; and
2) strengthen the capacity of the Maisons de la
Culture. These activities will lead to better
access to culture for youth, ultimately leading to
better social, economic and cultural conditions
for the youth
The promotion and strengthening of the
“cultural industry” of architecture done with
local materials (“terre”) will start a process of
sustainable development, leading to reduction
of poverty, the promotion of decent and
sustainable housing, and better economic, social
and cultural conditions for the population. The
specific objectives through which this cultural
industry is supported are:
1) technical and vocational trainings and
exchanges of the sector’s workers; and
2) sensitisation of the local communities about
earth architecture.